Vending-machine.



BATENTBD DBO. 1, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I. C. WODWARD.

. v VENDING MACHINE.

BPLIGATION FILED APR, 24.

No MDEL.

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' and the coin-chute.

ivo. 745,767.

Patented December 1, 1.903.

.PATENT OrrIcn.

IRVING C. WOODVARD, OF CHICAGO, lLLlNOIS.

VENDINGFNIACHINE;

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No, 745,707, dated December1, 1903i Application nea April 24, 190s. seni No. 154.041. ut man.)

o a/ZZ whom t may con/cera.

Be itknown that I, lnvnve C. WooDWARD,

, a citizen of the United States of America, and

a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and Stateof Illinois, haveinvented certain new and `useful Improvements in Vending- Maohines, ofwhich the following is a specilication.

The main object of my invention is to provide a simple coin-operatedvending-machine in which the coin when dropped into the coinchute willthrough its gravity acquire sufficient impetus to cause same to forceout a package from a suitable storage device.

A further object is to providel a coin-controlled device which may bemade in such simple form as to avoid the necessity of using springs andlevers and to rely mainly upon the gravity of the packages and thegravity of the coin for operating the machine.

I accomplish these objects by the structure shown in theV accompanyingdrawings, in-

which- Figure 1 isa front elevation of a vendingmachine constructedaccording to my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of same. Fig. 3 isasection on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, showing one of the storing devicesor tubes in elevation. Fig. 4 is a top plan of the inner removable partof` the casing, showing the compartments in which the pills or balls maybe stored.

The casing consists of a frame 1, supporting glass-walls 2. An innercasing, including the back piece 3, bottom Ll, and top part 5, isremovable from the outer casingV and supports therein thepackage-storingdevices or tubes Said inner casing is locked in positionby means of the bolt 6' of the lock '7, said bolt being seated in thebase 8 when in locking position. The glass tubes 9 are secured'to thetop part' 5 and the slotted member l() of the innercase.' The coin-chute11 is likewise secured within said inner casing in suitable position'tolead tothe coinslot 12 of the member 10. The upper end of the coin-chute11 is arranged to register with the member 13, secured upon the top 14of the outer casing, and forms the receiving end of the coin-chute. Themember 10 has a front opening 15, the purpose of which is merely to showthe coin as same moves along the lower horizontal part of the ythetrough 19 ofthe base-piece 8. clined partition 20 prevents tamperingwith 4chute or slot 12. The stops 16 on the mem# ber 1,0 hold the pillsor balls 17 in suitable position at the discharge end of the tubes 9, sothat a coin 18, passing along the slot 12,will come in contact with thepills or packages 17 and raise same above the stops 16, so as to causesame to drop over the front and toward the side of said stops and bedelivered into the device, as by insertion of a Wire under the frontglass 2 and through the trough 19. The partition 25 serves partly as asupport for the tubes 9 and is preferably made of glass, so as to showthe vcoins in the compartment 23. Said partition 25 is extended entirelyacross the inner casing, so as to separate the coin-compartment from theupper parts. This partition may be entirely omitted Without interferingwith the operativeness ofthe device. The member 22 serves merely as abrace for the bottom and rear parts of the inner casing. y

1n operating the device the storage-tubes will iirst be filled fromabove by placing the pills in the compartments 2l and allowing same tofeed into the upper ends of the tubes 9. The compartments 21 are filledwhen the inner casing secured to the back wall 3 is re moved from theouter casing consisting ofthe parts rigidly secured to the base 8. Thenthe tubes 9 are properly filled, the inner cas ing will be returned intothe position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 and will be locked in suchposition by means of the loclr7 and bolt 6. If a coin of the properdimensions is now dropped into the vmember 13, such coin will fall downthe vertical part of the chute 11 and then through the impetus receivedby its gravity will roll along thehorizontal part of said chute,dropping out of the chute Within the casing at the left end 11 of thechute, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l. The coin then drops into thecompartment 23, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The coin is shown in dottedAlines in Fig. 1 as in the act of throwing out one of the pills 17. Asthe coin advances along said horizontal part the same throws out onepill from each of the storage-tubes. The pills roll along the partition2O and then down behind the extension 2i of the front The in- TOO glassWall 2, rolling along the trough toward its middle part, as shown inFig. 1, Where same can be readily removed by the operator.

It will be understood that some of the details of the device shown maybe altered without departing from the spirit of my invention. Itherefore do not confine myself to such details, except as hereinafterlimited in the claims.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A vending-machine comprising a package-storage device having anopening for delivering the `packages, and a coin-chute dis-v chargingtoward said packages, and so disposed as to impart sufficient impetus tothe coin, solely through its own gravity, to impart a blow to one ofsaid packages adapted to deliver said package through said opening,substantially as described.

2. A vending-machine comprising a package-storage device having anopening for delivering the packages, said storage device being arrangedto automatically feed the packages toward said opening, and a coin-chuteleading toward said opening, and adapted throughk the gravity of thecoin, to carry the coin into contact with one of said packages withsufficient force to deliver same through said opening, substantially asdescribed.

3. A vending-machine comprising a package-storage device having anopening for delivering the packages, a stop near said opening adapted toretard one of the packages in a position in which same projects partlythrough said opening, and a coin-chute leading downwardly and towardsaid opening, and adapted ythrough the gravity of the coin, to carrysaid coin beyond said opening, in a path intercepted by said package,with sufficient force to deliver the package through said opening,substantially as described.

4. A vending-machine comprising a package-storage device having anopening for delivering packages and being arranged to automatically feedthe packages toward said opening, a stop at said opening adapted toretain one of the packages in suitable position to be ejected throughsaid opening, and a coinchute adapted to roll a coin along a path eX-tending through said openin g, and intercepted by said package, insuitable manner to permit a suflicient contact of said coin with suchpackage to cause the ejection of the package through said opening,substantially as described.

5. A vending-machine comprising a casing, a storage-tube leading fromthe upper part to the lower part of said casing and adapted toautomatically convey pills or balls to the lower end of said tube,slotted means at the'lower end of said tube arranged to stop one of saidballs in a position extending across the slot, and a coin-'chutecommunicating with said slot and adapted to roll a coin through saidslot and into suitable contact with such ball to cause its dischargefrom said slotted means, substantially as described.

6. Avending-machine comprisingacasing, a coin-chute leading from theupper part of said casing downwardly and thence in a substantiallyhorizontal direction and adapted to carry'a coin in suitable manner toroll same along said horizontal part, said coin-chute having an upperslot along said horizontal part arranged to permit the upper part of thecoin to extend through said slot, and a plurality of storage-tubesleading toward said horizontal part and adapted to carry pills or ballstoward same, stops adapted to retain one of the balls in eachstorage-tube in a position above said slot and intercept-ing the path ofthe coin in suitable manner to permit the discharge of said ballsthrough contact with the coin, substantially as described.

Signed at Chicago this 13th day of April, 1903.

IRVING C. VOODVARD. Vitnesses:

RUDow RUMMLER, CHARLES T. BROWN.

